Andor episode 8 Review - Cassian finds himself in deep water

The episode starts off with Cassian Andor being transferred to Narkina 5, where he and his fellow inmates are forced to work for the empire, the prison is designed to escape proof, and prisoners' sentences are increased at the jailer's will.

The place is clearly designed to break the spirit of its prisoners, as it is made clear when one prisoner chooses to kill himself rather than continue living.

Cassian is not an exception to this as he slowly comes to the realization that he is stuck here and there is no chance of escape, Diego Luna does a great job using subtlety to convey Andor's growing sense of dread.

Add in the fact that the prison makes the prisoners compete with each other with the winners given small rewards and the losers being punished with electrocution thus making ensuring that there is no chance of them organizing or developing friendships.

Meanwhile, under the command of Meero, the empire is cracking down on Ferrix and we see just how far they will go to find Andor. As for the rebellion, they are also after Andor, fearing that he is a loose end that must be killed.

The parallel between the two is interesting as one tries to cautiously sow the seeds of rebellion and fears for its survival and the other viciously tries to uproot it without such fears. The episode does a great job of exploring this theme.

We also see the return of Forest Whitaker as Saw Gerrera in a small cameo that is easily one of the highlights of the episode, in a poignant scene we see Luthen Rael and Saw argue over each other's methods and we realize just how fractured the rebellion truly is.

The series continues to prove that it is one of the best Star Wars shows made and could even dethrone The Mandalorian from the top spot.

The first eight episodes of the Andor are currently streaming on Disney+, with new episodes every Wednesday.